Half-Million Milestone Holds Promise for NWA

Five hundred thousand people or half a million?

Either way, it’s supposed to sound good — a clean and easy description of a prosperous region with five cities, four counties, three Fortune 500 companies, two states and one colossal art museum.

The population milestone marks a graduation of sorts from up-and-coming boomtown to an established region with enough jobs, infrastructure and amenities to support growth for years to come. Using U.S. Census Bureau data, the Northwest Arkansas Council determined that the region arrived at 500,000 on May 28.

Mike Malone, president and CEO of the council, admits the number is as much marketing as it is meat. The real breakthrough, Malone said, will come in the future when, and if, Northwest Arkansas, the nation’s 106th largest metro, cracks the top 100. Still, first things first, he said. Five hundred thousand isn’t too bad.

“It’s a nice number and it’s a big number,” Malone said. “We wanted to remind folks of how big this area has become.”

Malone said the latest benchmark brings with it a certain amount of promise. He said according to some site selectors, the difference between being considered for a project, or not, is the 500,000-population designation. Now that the region has passed that mark, it’s on better footing for industry expansion and relocation. When asked if Northwest Arkansas should soon expect yet another big announcement regarding economic development, Malone said, “I think so and I hope so.”

 

Creative Minds

While Malone and his organization focus on the larger issues facing the region and its efforts to bring in more jobs, a younger generation is doing its part to establish this area as a metro of choice. Aided by an entrepreneurial spirit and a grasp of technology, a new breed of dealmaker is emerging from beneath the shadow cast by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Tyson Foods Inc., and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.

David Baker, the founder of digital marketing firm Moxy Ox, recently sold his stake in the company and, among other things, is now a product owner with digital marketing group RevUnit in Bentonville. Baker, 27, has the background and resources to live and work where he pleases. He chooses to stay here.

“I can’t envision leaving the area anytime soon because there’s too much going on,” Baker said. “It grabs you and you can’t ignore it. It’s hard to make an argument that you can do something there that you can’t do here.”

A graduate of John Brown University, he once thought of leaving the area. But now he’s married, is a father and owns a house in Fayetteville. The cofounder of a networking group called Creatives United, one of Baker’s goals is to bring like minds together for the exploration of ideas — ideas that can flourish in the marketplace here and beyond.

“There’s a large creative community and people just don’t know it,” Baker said. “Our contact list is 300, but it could be 5,000.”

James Eldridge, a former partner with James + James furniture who sold his interest in the company and now works as a business consultant, agreed with Baker, his friend and fellow entrepreneur, that Northwest Arkansas is the place to be. 

Eldridge, 26, said part of what’s taking place here is a cross-generational effort to make things happen. People like Matt Crafton, president and CEO of engineering powerhouse Crafton Tull, along with others are investing in business models hatched by Millennials. Experience is teaming up with youthful energy, Eldridge said, and in the process real possibilities are being created.

A former resident of Denver, the 22nd largest city in the country, Eldridge said the 500,000 population mark doesn’t sound like much.

But it is.

“Suddenly you’re shaking hands with someone you didn’t know existed,” Eldridge said. “If you’re looking for a fair playing field to get a business off the ground, this is the place to do it.”

 

One Million?

At his office on Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers, recruiting honcho Cameron Smith has a front-row seat at the ongoing event that is the growth of Northwest Arkansas.

A key figure in the talent search for the more than 1,300 suppliers associated with Walmart, Smith is oftentimes the point man for the retail executives arriving here to do their time in what he calls Vendorville.

While Vendorville used to be a temporary stop on the corporate trail, it’s increasingly become a destination, and if the past is any indication of what will happen in the future, Northwest Arkansas will do what it does best — grow. 

“It means we’re headed to 600,000 a lot quicker than we got from 400,000 to 500,000,” Smith said. “Every day I get an email from someone saying, ‘My company wants me to move and I don’t want to move and my wife doesn’t want to move.’ It’s a good place to land.”

The region has consistently increased its offerings for arts and entertainment, but Northwest Arkansas is still second tier in comparison to places like Dallas, Kansas City and St. Louis. You still can’t buy a Porsche here, shop at Neiman Marcus, eat at Morton’s Steakhouse or attend an NFL game. And it’s no surprise world superstar Justin Timberlake is not scheduled to perform here while touring in support of his latest album, “The 20/20 Experience.”

Though Smith is quick to point out that the region’s has a long way to go in terms of amenities, he’s also bullish on its future. The most important economic driver in the region, the Walton interests, have dug in their heels, Smith said, and people will continue to migrate to this area in search of their fortune.

“If one comes, five will come,” he said.

Peering into the future, Smith sees the possibility of 1 million people.

“It’s not inconceivable,” he said. “Will we? I don’t know.”

 

Talking Points

Northwest Arkansas doesn’t have much of a brand outside the region and the state. Rick West, CEO of Field Agent, a global tech-retail company based in Fayetteville, knows that just as well as anyone. Through his experience trying to lure the best and brightest to Field Agent, he’s realized that the region needs talking points — talking points that don’t need to be explained.

“What hurts us is that we’re not a city,” he said, referring to the five-headed monster of Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Siloam Springs, and the associated school districts and chambers of commerce.

The region has an identity, but it’s an identity that hasn’t yet been summarized in a tidy package that can be quickly conveyed to a hotshot code writer from Seattle or an angel investor from Chicago.

“In my business, if you have to explain things, then you have to fix it,” West said. “I don’t have a culmination of talking points. It’s all fragmented.”

The name of the airport, Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, is long and provincial and the facility itself is located in Highfill, a nondescript hamlet with less than 1,000 people, West said. Perhaps renaming and rebranding the airport could be a first step toward improving the area’s national appeal.

“It’s a fair question to ask,” West said, noting the ease in which one can say Tulsa International, Chicago O’Hare, LaGuardia, JFK, LAX or London Heathrow.

West said that oftentimes people come to Northwest Arkansas with inaccurate ideas about the area and what it represents. It’s only until they land and take a good look around that the region starts to assert itself.

“They come here kicking and screaming,” West said. “Half of them can’t get out quick enough and half of them stay.”

Looking ahead, the region needs to prepare itself for competition at the highest level. A 30,000-SF tech hub, perhaps in the Pinnacle Hills area and powered by Google Fiber and meaningful tax incentives by the state of Arkansas, would give the region a powerful talking point, West said. It would also protect the tech community, which is under immense pressure to relocate to Silicon Valley in Santa Clara, California, or to Silicon Hills in Austin, Texas.

“If you want to play with the big boys, there’s things you’ve got to do,” West said.